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Rick Perry leaving gov's office, doesn't rule out 2016 (Full)

Rick Perry's career

“The time has come to pass on the mantle of leadership. Today, I am announcing I will not seek reelection as governor of Texas,” said Perry, speaking before supporters at a Caterpillar dealership in San Antonio. “I will spend the next 18 months working to create more jobs, opportunity and innovation. I will actively lead this great state. I’ll also pray and reflect and work to determine my own future path.”

“Any future considerations, I will announce in due time and I will arrive at that decision appropriately,” said Perry, who spent much of the event highlighting his record on the state economy, budget and job creation.

Perry’s decision clears the way for state Attorney General Greg Abbott to run for governor. The Republican is considered the likely frontrunner in Perry’s absence and has been laying groundwork for a campaign.

Abbott “will make his intentions clear in the coming weeks,” campaign spokesman Matt Hirsch told POLITICO. He said Abbott has no campaign events planned for this week, but did note Abbott has a meet-and-greet scheduled with supporters in San Antonio on July 14.

Abbott’s war chest dwarfed Perry’s at last count. Abbott had about $18 million on hand at the end of last year, according to Texas Ethics Commission filings. Perry had about $6 million. Observers in Austin took that as one sign that Perry was likely on his way out.

A recent poll showed Texas voters did not look favorably on another gubernatorial run for Perry. Sixty percent said he should not run for reelection, according to Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. Thirty percent said he should.

But in hypothetical matchups with Abbott and several of the state’s better-known Democrats – including state Sen. Wendy Davis and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro – Perry still led, the poll showed.

Any Democratic gubernatorial candidate would face an uphill fight in a state that has not elected a statewide Democrat since 1994.

Perry took office in 2000 after then-Gov. George W. Bush was elected president. He won three subsequent elections, most recently beating then-Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 gubernatorial primary and Democrat Bill White in the general election.

In August 2011, Perry joined the Republican presidential primary race. He famously stumbled in a debate by forgetting one of the federal departments he proposed eliminating. He dropped out in January 2012.

On Sunday, he talked at more length about a possible second run for president.

“Well, certainly, that’s an option out there, but again, we got a lot of work to do in this building right behind me [the Texas Capitol] over the course of the next couple of weeks that have my focus substantially more than even 2014 or 2016,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”